March 14 – 17, 2008

The trip to visit the churches in the capital Tegucigalpa, Choluteca, and Danli was very good. It was a lot driving (about 1100 kilometers) on two lane roads that wind through mountains. Brad went along with Saul and Miguel (the head of the pastors in Honduras). They let Brad drive the entire time because as Saul said “We want you to have the full experience.” Brad said he got pretty comfortable passing on curves and hills. A little different than driving in the States.

(Brad’s account of the trip)
We met several people who walk an hour or more each way to get to church. Very humbling to be around these people and see what they are willing to do to get to church. The first church was in Los Perles (about a 1.5 hour drive from Danli where we stayed the first night). It was about 8 hours of driving to from Hogar de Fe to the church on Friday. There were about 25-30 people there.

Before church we were able to spend some time with Juan Bonilla and his family at their home. Juan used to pastor a church but now has a serious heart condition and is unable to pastor anymore. He can’t read so his wife would read the Bible and then Juan would memorize his sermon and Bible references with his wife’s help. While at there house (which has dirt floors) their son, Jose Luis (one of our Bible Institute students) caught an iguana that was probably 4.5 – 5 feet long from nose to the end of the tail. I was afraid he was going to try and give it to me and I would have no idea what to do with it. Fortunately he didn’t, but I did find out later from Saul he offered to Saul but Saul declined it because he didn’t know what I would think about him taking it home. Saul says they are excellent to eat. Maybe someday. Not sure my stomach’s ready for it yet.

While visiting the Bonilla family Jose Luis’ sister told us she wants to come to the Bible Institute. So, we are making plans for her to be at the Bible Institute when they come back in May. IF we will just be patient and wait for God to bring us the people He wants He will do amazing things.

My Daily Moto Is: “Brad, Just don’t mess it up today.”

At the church they visited with the Pastor Diaz(who is one of the Bible students) before church. It seemed to mean a lot to the pastor, his family, and the church to have us there. It let them know they are supported, loved, and cared for. In fact, this was a common theme at every church and pastor we visited.

After church we drove the 1.5 hours back to our hotel at night. Night driving in Honduras is much more adventurous (read dangerous) than daytime driving. On the way back we had to avoid a cow in the road and later a horse in the road. We also had to avoid hitting a car that was stopped in our lane with no lights on. We avoided hitting several kids on bikes parked in the middle of our lane just talking and another car moving slowly in our lane with no taillights. Just another night driving in Honduras. It ‘s never boring.

On Saturday we drove another five hours to Choluteca to visit Pastor Ramone and his church. We visited with Ramone and one of his leaders, Milton, at Ramone’s house for about an hour. It was a fairly heated, open, and honest discussion of some problems that Ramone and Milton have with the way they feel they have been treated. I must say, most of their concerns are valid. All I told them was “Whatever you do make sure you are doing what God wants you to do. If you don’t you will never be happy with your decision. I also told them I would support them and hoped to continue working with them no matter what they decided.” After church we took Ramone and his family out for supper to celebrate pastor appreciation day with them. It was actually back in January but this is the first opportunity we’ve had to get down to see them.

The next morning we drove the three hours back to Tegucigalpa to visit two churches on Sunday. One met at 3:00 pm and the other at 7:00 pm. We picked up the pastors, Oscar and Mercedes, at their home and drove them to the church with us. They normally walk and it’s about an hour walk each way.

In between services we took Oscar, Mercedes, and Tino (the pastor of the 7:00 pm service) out to eat for pastor appreciation. While eating we found out that Tino’s father had passed away three weeks ago. This was heartbreaking because this is the first we had found out about it. This was an eye-opener to our failed communication with the pastors and churches who are not close to Hogar de Fe. We have immediately implemented a plan for Saul to call these pastors at least once every two weeks just to see how it’s going.

After the 7:00 pm service we took an elderly woman and her granddaughter home. They too walk to church and it’s about a 45 – 60 minute walk one-way. The next morning we drove the four hours home. Definitely ready to see Cindy and be home. It’s nice to be able to call our house “home” now.

Observations from the trip:
We need to try and personally visit these pastors and churches once per month. It may not be possible every month but we should try. Please pray about a better method to let these pastors and churches know about and experience our support.

It was a very encouraging experience to see what these men and women are doing and their commitment to God and the people of their churches.

Every church we visited began with many of the people on their knees praying before the service began. Hum??????

I think the pastors enjoyed the opportunity to be able to share and talk freely without feeling as if someone was there to critique them, criticism them, tell them what they should be doing, or not listen to what they had to say.

Since I speak muy poco Espanol I could not really enter in to the conversations with the pastors. So, I left it to Saul and Miguel to work with the pastors which was great because the goal is for them to begin running the show as soon as possible anyway.

I did learn that even when you can’t speak the language you can still mess with the kids. So, while Saul, Miguel, and the pastors were talking I spent time playing with the kids.

On the way home Saul, Miguel, and I were able to discuss what we had learned on the trip and what we should about it. Well, it was with Saul interpreting since Miguel speaks no Ingles.

I’m afraid we’ve created a situation where the pastors and churches think most problems are solved with money and the is suppose to come from us, “The Mission”, through the donations of North Americans. In every church I shared God’s plan to reach the world with message of the Gospel and His expectation that all His people should be participating in this great endeavor. We need to move from the receiving phase to the giving and support stage. It doesn’t matter how poor you believe you are – God expects all of us to be a part of His plan and He believes in us enough to trust us to fulfill His plan through the empowering of the Holy Spirit.

We are trying to expand the pastors and churches’ vision to see 2.3 billion people around the world that have never heard the gospel and begin seeking God to see how they are to be a part of reaching these people. Please pray with us as we continue to encourage our churches to join God’s efforts to reach the world. I truly believe this will be a major break through for our pastors and churches when they realize they are capable, they do have the resources, and they can play a major role in God’s plan to reach the world.